Sectional pneumatic tire.



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UNITED sTATEs PATENT, OFFICE.

JAMES C. WILSON, OF BELCHERTOWN, MAS'SACHTISETTS;

SECTIONAL PNEUMTIC TIRE'.

specification of Letters Patent.

, Application filed September 22, 1913.

Patentea Apr. 21, 1914. seriaino. 791,151.

To aZZ tchem it may concern Be 1t known that I, JAMES C. VVILsoN, acitlzen o f the Unit-ed States, residing at Belchertown, in the countyof Hampshire and State of Massachusetts; have inve-nted new andl useful.Improvements in Sectional Pneumatic Tires, of which the following is avspecification.

The invention has relation to vehicle tires embodyi'ng a plurality ofinflatable Sections,

whereby in the event of one of such sections becoming .defiated byreason of puncture or from other cause the remaining' Sections willadapt themselves automatically to fill the space of the deflated sectionand carry the load until proper repairs may be made.

The invention consistsof a rim having a passage with which a pluralityof 'infiatable sections are connected so as to be simultaneouslyinflated by air supplied to ,such passage from. a suitable source. orair compre'ssor, said passage being provided with an expansible closingdevice for sealing the openings by means of which the passage of the rimhas communication with the several pneumatio Sections, said sealingdevice being preferably of the pneumatic variety and adapted to beexpanded after the pneumatic 'Sections of the tire havebeen propcrlyinflated.

The invention consists oft-henovel features, detaiis of construction andcombination of jiparts, Which'hereinafter will be more particularly setforth, illustrated in the accompanying dr'awings, and pointed out inVthe appended elaims.

Referri'ng to the drawings, ;forming a part .of the specificationh,Figure 1 is a detail view of 'one-fourth of'a vehicle wheel providedwith a pneumatictire embodying' the invention, a' portion ojf suchtirebeing broken vaway to show the relative arrangement of the parts. Fig. 2is a section on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1 ona larger scale and having` endportions of the pneumatic section broken Corresponding and like partsare referred to in the following description, and indicated in all theviews of the drawings, by the same reference characters.

The` rim of the vehicle wheel may be of any construction and asillustratcd in the acicon'ipanyng drawings compriscs parts 1v` and 2,which constit-ute the. main rim of the wheel. A supplemental rim isfitted upon the part 2 ofvthe main run, and comprlses oppositely.inclined .portions 3 and 4, an intermediate portion 5,' which isdepressed to form va seat, side fianges 6 and a pert 7,v which extendsbeneath the portions 3.

'and incloses a space' 8, .which c'onstitutesl a the' passage neumatlc.

inclin'ed part 3 of the supplemental rim and' other openings 11 areformed in the part 4. The supplemental rim may be seeured to the ,mainrim in any manner and. receives the' part. comprising the tire. v

' As illustrated most elearly'in Fig.- 2 the 'pneumatic Sections 12 aresubstantially of U form and have their end portions secured in anym'anner to the inclincdjportions 8 and 4 of the supplemental rim. 'TheSections 12 may consist of short lengths of rubber tubing having 'theirend portions closed by means of plugs 1.8, which are grooved in theiredges and have parts of the tube12 pressed into the Ig'rooved edges by'asuitable binder. One of the plugs of each pneumatic section is formedwith an oblong projection... 14, which is'adapted to be passed through.

one of the'openings 11 and given a one-` fourth turn to sit crosswise ofsuch opening and thereby lock the plugs to the rirn port-ion 4. Thevplug at the. opposite end of the tube may be secure'd to the part 3 ofthe rim in any manner, such plug having an opening-15 to register withthe opening 10, whereby air may enter the pneumatic section from thepassage 8.

A pneumatio tube 16 eneircles the' supplemental rim and is fitted in.the depressed portion 5 thereof. 'An opening e17 establishescommunication between the tube "16 and the passage 8, thereby admittin'gof air 7 enterin'g the tube 16 when the passage 8 'is supplie'd'with airunder pressure. An expansible closure 18 is arranged within the passage8 and is adapted toseal the openings 10 and 17 and confin'e'the air inthe several` pneumatic Sections after the latter have been inflated.This expansible closure 18 preferably consists of a pneumatic tube,which .is provided with an air valve 19 to admit of the tube 18 beingexpanded so as to close the openings 10 and 17 after theA pneumaticdevices-have been infiated, there; byv confining the air in each. Thetube 18 when collapsed' does not fi11 the space 8 'to 'such an extent asto interfere with the proper inflation of the pneumatic Sections. Thisis indicated most clearly by the dotted lines in F ig. 2. After thepneumatic sections have been inflated and the tube 18 is likewiseinflated such tube 18 expands and entirely fi11s the space 8, therebychosing the openings 10 and 17 as indicated most cleariy by the 'fulllines in Fig. 2. v

The numeral 24 indicates the casing or shoe which may 'be of any form'and is secured to the rim in any manner to admit of access being'readily had to the 'neuinatic 'devices for any purpose whatsoever.

fiFrom the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying draw-A igsfthe advantages of the construction and of themethod of operation will be readily apparent to those skilled in the artto which the invention appertains, and while I have describ'ed theprinciple of operation of the invention, together with the device whichI now oonsider to be the best embodiment thereo'f,.I desire toahave itunderstood that the device shown is merely illustrative, and that suchchanges may be madewhen desired' as are within the scope of theinvention as c1aimed.` i

H avinr thus descrbed the invention what is claimed as new, is

1. In a pneumatic tube the combination of a rim having op o=site1yinclined side portions and an intermediate depressed portion,

a pneuinatic tube seated upon the intermediate" depresscd portion of therim, a pluraiity of L' shaped pneumatic sectlons extending over thepncumatlc tube and having their w expansible closure located in thepass-age of 'the rim and adapted to seal theo enings by means of whichthe pneumatic tu e and ,sections are in communicationiwith the passageof the rim. v

2. In a pneumatic tire', the combination of a rim embodying oppositelyinclined side portions 'and an' intermediate continuous passage, aplurality of U-shaped tubes having a transverse arrangement with theirends seated against and secured to the oppositely inclined sideportions'of the rim, each of such tubes being in communication with thesaid passage and ar'erpansible closur'e located in the passage of therim for ealing the openings by means of which the several tubes havecommunication therewith,

3. Ina pneumatic tire, the combination of a rim havinr oppositelyinciined 'side portions and an intermediate continuous passage, the-saidside portions of the rini being provided with corresponding-vopenings,the openings of one of the side portions communicating with thecontinuous passage, a plurality of U-shaped tubes arranged transverselyof the rim and secured at oneof their ends to the side portion of therim having communication with the passage and having Iprojections attheir opposite ends to engage the openings in the other side portion .ofthe rim and an expansible closure located in the passage of the rim forsealing the openings by meanstof .which the U-shaped tubes havecommunication with the said passage.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature in presencc of two witnesses.

JAMES C. WILSON.

Witnesscs. i

II. II. IViLsoN, II. J. ALLnN.

